Lean On Me
by TheSwanLakeTales
Summary: When Oliver returns from Lian Yu he is not the same person. He's detached, he flinches at personal contact and the demons that haunt him are worse than the ones he face in purgatory. That is until he meets Felicity Smoak, recent graduate of MIT escaping her own past and the woman his mother hired to help him back into real life.
1. Introduction

_Title: Lean on Me  
>Category: Arrow<br>Ship: Oliver/Felicity (Olicity)  
>Summary: When Oliver returns from Lain Yu he is not the same person. He's detached, he flinches at personal contact and the demons that haunt him are worse than the ones he face in purgatory. That is until he meets Felicity Smoak, recent graduate of MIT escaping her own past and the woman his mother hired to help him back into real life.<br>a/n: This has been bugging me for a very long time now it's inspired by the fic Stay With Me by MontanaRosalie (it's for OUAT, go read it) but in no way is it the same. _

* * *

><p>The plane arrived in Starling City on a grey morning. There was, of course, bushels of paparazzi, its not every day that a billionaire comes back from the dead, but the reporters aren't there for the plane that just landed. No, that one would come just three short hours later but it's on that plane that holds a young woman, just graduated from MIT and escaping the hold of her mother, who will walk into the billionaire's life not two weeks later and change it…for the better.<p>

::

With her patterned carry-on in hand Felicity made her way off the plane and though the gates of dreaded airport security. She was glad it was mid-day and most sensible people had already left on their plane rides elsewhere because while she was accustomed to the stares she got having a prosthetic leg, it never made life any easier when 80 people decided to ask if she needed help. She walked out the doors to the purple mini-cooper she purchased with almost all the savings she had left after MIT, and her first and last month's rent to an apartment in a decent area of the city. The cool air touched her bare skin and made her shiver, she pulled her arms over her chest and it made her think of rainy days in Cambridge with Barry. She shook the thoughts of her ex-boyfriend out her head and moved quicker to her car.

Her car was about halfway through the parking lot next to a lamp post and a Bentley. She looked quizzically at the shiny new Bentley fit for a celebrity and got into her min-cooper. She placed her bag, the only thing she brought with her from Cambridge on the plane, on her passenger seat and dug out her tablet and phone. She turned on her phone and sighed in relief when she realized that her mother hadn't called her. Logically she knew she couldn't. It was a new number, a new area code and most of all a new name but she still feared that her mother would find her and brag her back into the toxic world that was Caroline P. Wilson. She shook her head and threw her phone on top of her bag. Starting her car she backed out of the parking space and pulled towards the local highway.

Six exits and one connection later she found the Avalon Park exit and made her way towards her plain brick stone apartment. The two staircases to her apartment were extra creaky under the weight of her leg but she welcomed the sound because it seemed to drag out the thoughts muddling her brain. She reached her apartment, put the key into the lock and entered. When inside she put the security system she'd personally set up in place and walked to the bedroom she knew was just down the hall from the pictures she'd seen online. She walked in and sat her bag on the chair in the far corner. She changed out of her traveling skinny jeans and panda flats into her lounge pants. She adjusted her leg and smoothed the piece of cotton back down over it. Her interview with Queen's Consolidated wasn't until tomorrow and today she intended on relaxing in a pair of dog printed pants with her tablet on the couch.

Felicity walked back out into her living room and plopped unceremoniously on the couch. Her tablet in hand she began browsing on the web and a news article popped up, Starling City's Playboy Back from the Dead, read the title. She stared at for a moment before continuing to read. It wasn't the first time she'd heard mention of the Starling City Playboy but last she read he was dead, five years dead. She read the article and her jaw dropped, Billionaire Oliver Queen was found on an island off the coast of China earlier this week. Queen went missing 5 years ago when his father's (Robert Queen) boat, the Queen's Gambit was lost at sea. Felicity couldn't believe that anybody let alone a billionaire playboy could survive five years on a presumably empty island. Felicity kept reading and with each bit of limited information she was given she couldn't believe her eyes. After three hours of reading up on the billionaire's return to the land of the living she had dozed off on her couch and on her tablet that lay on her stomach played a news report: "Billionaire and Starling City's most notorious playboy made his way home today after being presumed dead for 5 years. He was seen exiting Starling City General Hospital with what looks to no injuries and a clean bill of health but a source tells us that isn't true. They told us that Oliver has scar tissue over 20% of his body and many of his bones have been broken and improperly set. So, Oliver Queen, what exactly was it you were up to on this abandoned island?"

::

After five years on a deserted island being poked and prodded by a doctor might be a welcoming thing for some but Oliver wanted nothing of it. Being touched. Being prodded. He didn't like it. He flinched every time the nurse, Lilly he thinks her name is, touched him with a gentle touch. Her apologies went unheard and after the fifth time she stopped giving them.

The slew of doctors and nurses went through everything they needed to. They gave him an IV, took his vitals and poked at him for at least two hours before the doctor, Oliver never caught his name, left to talk to his mother who had stood outside the room the whole time. Oliver couldn't hear what they were saying but both Moria and the doctor kept looking back at him. He knew his mother would be worried and he knew that she'd want to fix him but he was so far from fixing.

::

Moria listened to Doctor Radley speak while she looked at her son sitting in the hospital bed behind him. "Your son is better than I'd expect him to be but in no way is he the same boy you lost five years ago. His body is made up of 20% scar tissue, he had bones broken and set improperly too many times for me to do anything and he flinches at any personal contact."

"Do you think it's possible for him to return to a normal life?"

"I'm not a therapist Mrs. Queen but I believe he will be able to return to something resembling normal."

"Do you know of a way to make it easier on him. I know it's not in your job description but-"

"I understand Mrs. Queen, he's your son. You want him safe." Moria nodded and he continued, "My professional suggestion is that you hire somebody to look after him." Doctor Radley said with a nod and continued, "He needs somebody there with him but in no means does he need a babysitter. He needs somebody to make his life livable again." Moria nodded at Doctor Radley and looked back at her son. He was a different man than he was five years ago. When he left he was a boy who was kicked out of four colleges and spent months in the tabloids but here she saw a man who was forced to grow up and faced so much destruction she wasn't sure he'd ever be the same again.

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts? <em>

_xx Jessica_


	2. The Job Offer

_Title: Lean on Me  
>Category: Arrow<br>Ship: Oliver/Felicity (Olicity)  
>Summary: When Oliver returns from Lain Yu he is not the same person. He's detached, he flinches at personal contact and the demons that haunt him are worse than the ones he face in purgatory. That is until he meets Felicity Smoak, recent graduate of MIT escaping her own past and the woman his mother hired to help him back into real life.<br>a/n: Thank you for your support, it's heart warming. Here's chapter 2. The next chapter is where Felicity meets dear Oliver and Thea! We also get see how Oliver's reacting to Felicity (hint: poorly)! Enjoy! My update schedule is in my profile!_

* * *

><p>When Felicity awoke it wasn't quite morning yet, the sun hadn't begun to rise but it wasn't the time that woke her up. Her leg, or rather her missing leg was sending shooting pains up to her real leg. Ghost pains they called them. A reminder is what she called them. They reminded her of the man who took her leg from her in the first place when normally her mind was able to compartmentalize him out of existence. With a sigh she sat up and rubbed her hand over her knee hoping to relieve some of the pain. She placed her tablet that fell on to her lap the mahogany coffee table in front of her. She walked to her bedroom and took off her prosthetic, laying it up against her end table where she flipped on her alarm clock hoping to get some restful sleep before her Queen's Consolidated interview.<p>

Her alarm blared at seven thirty; Felicity grudgingly rolled over and felt blindly for the snooze button. Three hits later at seven forty-five she finally moved to a sitting person and stretched her body out. She reached for her leg, mumbling about the weight of carbon fiber so early in the morning. After putting it on with no trouble she walked to the bathroom to get ready for her interview. She showered (her least favorite thing to do since losing her leg besides walking downstairs), blow dried her curly mane into something she could work with and styled it straight before she walked back into her room to get dressed and apply makeup. After spending twenty minutes looking in her closet she decided on a bright cobalt blue dress with minimal makeup and a butterfly twist necklace. By eight twenty she was on her way out the door ready for her interview.

During the short drive to Queen's consolidated her nerves kicked in. Her mind began to race as she imagined every question they could ask her (some she'd refuse to answer), she knew she'd say things she shouldn't (her brain to mouth filter was almost inexistent) and just hoped that despite her young age of 24 they'd give her the job she'd dreamed about since she was 13. She knew she had the qualifications but she knew that someone else had more experience. She had experience but none that she could speak of. That was the problem with starting over totally, the things you did as the old you no longer existed and while some things she was glad disappeared others made it hard for her to start over. Shaking these thoughts from her head she pulled into the Queen's consolidated parking lot deciding not to use the handicap tag she pulled into a spot that was a decent amount away from the door and grabbed her bag to head into the building.

The first thing she noticed was the size. It was just as large as the other skyscraper she'd seen from the highway. The modern architecture didn't surprise her, Queen's Consolidated happened to be one of the largest companies in the business inside all of America, right behind Wayne Enterprises and Merlyn Global.

After she got passed the size she stepped inside and noticed just how busy it was. People upon people were moving around and there wasn't a person who didn't look like they had to be somewhere. It thrilled her. She walked towards the information desk and received her visitors pass for the elevator. She nodded her thanks to the man at the desk and walked toward the elevator. She pushed the button for the eighteenth floor and waited.

When the doors opened on her floor to get off she stepped out and followed the signs to what could only be described as a waiting room full of unamused people. Felicity looked around the room and she saw a bunch of, probably qualified and experienced middle age woman and men sitting around in chairs reading magazines and drinking their caffeine of choice mundanely.

Nobody paid any attention to her or the extra clanks she made as her fake ankle's less than stellar dynamics guided her down the two steps to the waiting room. She walked over to a chair towards the back of the room, far away from the rest of the people and sat down. She pulled out her tablet and began to play a mind numbing game of Candy Crush.

It was nine thirty when a man about forty called her name; she nodded her acknowledgement and hurried to stuff her tablet back into her bag. She walked beside the man as he led her down the hall to a glass surrounded room. This time she notice that there were no stairs and she silently praised all gods because as she got closer she realized just who was sitting at the table in the glass room, Moira Queen and Walter Steele (the two most publicly recognized faces of Queen's Consolidated), Jennifer Jones (current head of the IT department) and a man she knew to be the head of human resources.

Felicity kept walking when she realized the man had stopped and took a seat in the white plush couch outside the offices. She nervously approached the doors while trying to look like she wasn't close to emptying the contents of her stomach in the fern next to the door. As soon as she stepped through the door she could see the HR man's eyes fly to her leg then to Walter's over the two women. Walter shook his head and spoke, "Good morning Miss Smoak, please take a seat."

"Good morning, Mr. Steele. Thank you," Felicity walked over to the chair that sat in front of the table they sat at and took a seat. She crossed her legs and placed her bag by the leg of her chair.

"Let's get started shall we?" Moira asked and Felicity nodded silently with a smile.

"What made you decided that Queen's Consolidated would be a good home for your skills?" Walter started.

Felicity smiled and animatedly began telling the board in front of her about her keen research into the leading companies in the field while she was in MIT. She told them how she wanted a break from Cambridge and the east and that Wayne Enterprise's change of CEO's made her realize that it wasn't a company she wanted to engage with. (As for Merlyn Global Felicity made one inquiry and knew she could never take a job with a company that's mainframe was so weak she could hack into it but she left that part out). So Queen's Consolidated was the best place, logically speaking, for her skills. She spoke a few more times with Walter, only engaging her never present brain-to-mouth filter once before Walter smiled at his file folder in front of him and nodded to her.

Jennifer spoke next and it was Felicity favorite question anybody ever asked her, "What made you pursue an IT career?

Felicity went on for a few moments about a friend whose need to watch the new Justin Timberlake video when they were 15 changed her life forever. After that she was smitten with computers that the only thing she'd asked for on birthdays was something computer related. Jennifer laughed and asked her some technology related questions before she too smiled and wrote something in the file folder in front of her.

The man from HR was next and Felicity knew his questions would be her least favorite starting with the one she refused to answer, "If you don't mind me asking but what happened to your leg?"

"I lost it when I was 19, car accident." Felicity answered honestly. She knew by now to hold back emotion when addressing her leg as a topic because once she let emotion in it never left.

"If you are to receive the job here will it affect your work?"

Felicity shook her head, "No, other than a half-year checkup, my leg is pretty much the same as yours except mine is made of carbon fiber and doesn't quite cooperate as well as your might." Felicity quipped lightly and she saw Moira's lips turn up at the corners.

"Thank you Miss Smoak," Moira said to Felicity before turning to Walter and then Jennifer who both nodded, "I'd like to speak to you alone."

Felicity nodded a bit stunned to say the least as she watched the three other member's file out. "You're a bright young girl Miss Smoak."

"You can call me Felicity, please," she requested still getting used to somebody saying her name as "Felicity Smoak",

Moira nodded and continued on just as before, "You have a personality on you. You're bold, you like to try new ways to get to the same solution and you seem to be very good at handling what life throws at you," she gestured towards her leg and Felicity nodded shyly a bit, "As I'm sure you know, my son has just come back from a deserted island after five years of living on it. To say he's in bad shape would be sugar coating it."

"I want to give you this job Felicity. I do and so does Jennifer and Walter but we can't or at least not yet. There's a clause written into the person's position you'd be taking that states they have six months of employment left with Queen's Consolidated after being terminated in order to find a job."

"So what are you saying?" Felicity asked extremely perplexed that her son had anything to do with the potential job at Queen's Consolidated.

"For the next six months I don't want you to go find new job with Merlyn Global or some other company. Your skills are too valuable to send you off to my competition no matter how close I am to them personally." Everyone knew of the Merlyn/Queen relations they were almost glued at the hip except in their business they kept those things very separate and fought competitively for the top spot. "For the next six months, if you accept, I'd like you to take on the role as care taker of my son. He doesn't need a nurse, Felicity; he needs someone like you to bring him back to something resembling a normal life. He needs to see that just because what he undoubted experienced was bad that normal life, a life he once had isn't impossible to attain."

"Mrs. Queen, ma'am, I don't know what to say. I'm honored I really am. But are you sure you want me with your son and not someone whose qualified?"

"If my son needed a nurse I would have got one. No he needs someone like you."

"Can I think about it?" She asked while looking down at her hands, taking care of somebody was a big thing to do. Taking care of Moria Queen's son was just scary to think about.

"Of course, Felicity, Take your time, here's my card. Call me with your answer." Moira reached into her bag and pulled out a white business card, she wrote on the back of it then handed it over to Felicity, "I included my cell phone number. Feel free to call me there."

"Alright, I'll call you either way," Felicity said as she reached down and picked up her bag to leave. Just as she reached the door she heard Moira call to her.

"I look forward to hearing from you."

::

It took Felicity three days before she pulled out her phone and dialed Moira Queen's number. She'd sat on the fence up until then, she didn't think it was right for her to take care of Oliver in any way shape or form but then she remembered what she was like after her accident. Moira was right Oliver didn't need a nurse; he needed a person who would listen when he wanted to talk. Someone who'd give him space when he didn't and someone who understood pain.

When she called Moira she was sitting on her couch listening to the rain hit her windows she almost dropped her phone when she answered, "Mrs. Queen," Felicity said, "This is Felicity, I'm calling about the job offer you gave me."

"Yes, dear, I remember," Moira said as Felicity idly played with her mint colored nails. "What have you decided?"

"I have a few questions first," Felicity wanted to know just what she was getting into and if she truly had the job at Queen's Consolidated when the six months were up.

"I'd be surprised if you didn't." Moira said to her and it made her relax a little bit. If Moira knew she was having questions maybe it'd be easier than she thought.

She decided to start off with the easy one, the important one. "First, the job at Queen's Consolidated will be mine in six months if I accept to take care of your son, yes?"

"The job will be yours Miss Smoak, at the end of six months."

"OK, that's good news. Secondly, what would taking care of your son entail? I'm not going to have to be his maid or anything along those lines, right?" Felicity asked honestly curious. She really wanted to know what she was getting into.

"He doesn't need a maid, we've got one of those already, and her name is Rasia. He doesn't need anything other than what you are, a person who will be able to bring him back into the real world. So Miss Smoak, any other questions?"

"Yes," Felicity said nervously, "When should I start?"

Moira was silent for a few moments and Felicity thought that she had hung up but then she heard her say, "Monday let's say nine. I'll put word in at QC with Jennifer so she can start the paper work and have it ready by then. I look forward to seeing you Miss Smoak."

"You too, Mrs. Queen," Felicity looked down at her phone in shock. She'd actually done it. She'd agreed to be Oliver Queen's care taker. She couldn't believe it. Despite her talk with Moira she still didn't know what that is like, but she knew that at the end of the six month she'd spend with Oliver she'd have the job she'd always wanted and maybe helping Oliver wouldn't be such a bad thing.

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts?<br>xx Jessica_


End file.
